The Clean - Part 1

Learning the clean - Before you get started

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Grip placement and front rack position

The grip placement for the clean should be as wide as you can comfortably turn over into a front rack position. It should be as wide as is comfortable, without blowing your wrist, elbow, or shoulder joints in the catch. For a clean this will typically be around shoulder width, or ideally slightly wider.

The front rack position should be as deliberate as possible- with as tight a grip as possible without compromising posture or causing pain. (There’s a theme emerging)

You should be able to have your hands in a full grip around the bar (not hook-grip), your palms may be open, but the bar should rest on all fingers. One or two fingered cleans don't normally end well plus you also eventually want to jerk the bar. With this in mind we also recommend using a grip which will be comfortable and stable overhead.

So to summarise your front rack grip position should help you stabilise the bar on your shoulders with a tight upper back and the bar positioned over a stable torso. This ensures your catch, squat, and jerk proceed from a stable and deliberate platform. In other words, one less excuse for a sloppy lift!

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Front squat and the ‘receiving’ position

Not only should you work on getting into a good position against the bar, but also riding that down into a front squat - without getting squashed in the bottom position. This means practicing the front rack with the added postural demands of the front squat.

That’s why weightlifters front squat so much: there’s a specific type of strength in the right position that you’re not going to get anywhere else. Front squat often to keep up your shoulder health and proper front rack position, and make sure you warm up for cleans with a few front squats that aim at good front rack position and core/hip tightness.

Getting good at this will certainly help your cleans, remember weightlifting is a combination of strength and mobility, remember never let the bar push you around, you have to put it - and your body - where you want it.

Pro Tip: if you want to test your mobility and core tightness in the catch position, try going to the bottom of a front squat, then perform some strict presses.

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High-hang position and progression downwards

As with the snatch, start from a high hang (mid-thigh) position and work on the lift in segments. The goal is to reduce complexity while you get the practice in, then add it back in once each ‘segment’ makes sense.

If you move from high hang to the top of the knee, then to the bottom of the knee, and then just off the floor, you’re in the right pattern for good cleans. Take time to get each step right, in turn: keep your midfoot pressure and back tightness in mind as you lower to the next position.

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Missing safely

Missing the clean safely is key: elbows always high - or you’ll contact the elbow to the knee, which can break your wrist. Just be willing to get out of the bar’s way and jump away from it if you think you’ve missed. It’s an easy way to keep safe.

Relax your hands, get yourself out. It’s that simple - no matter where the bar is going, just focus on getting yourself out of harms way. And don't worry about the bar, gravity will take care of it.